Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden's Mafia Funeral is a cinematic, staged photography project shot in Queens, New York, in 2005. Commissioned by Magnum Photos for a special "Fashion Magazine" edition exploring the seven deadly sins, Gilden was assigned the theme of Power and responded with characteristic intensity. Drawing on the visual language of the Italian-American mob, he constructed a tableau of a traditional mafia funeral, using clothing, gesture, and attitude to examine how wealth and status are performed and projected. The result is a body of work that sits at the intersection of documentary instinct and theatrical staging, equal parts reverent and menacing.